RECAP: Track £1,500 Seiko watch launched into space forecast to land near Cambridge

The Seiko Astron Space watch is being launched in Derbyshire and is forecast to land near Cambridge

A £1,500 watch launched into space this afternoon (July 20) was forecast to land near Cambridge - but appears to have landed somewhere near the Peak District.

The Seiko Astron Space watch was sent into the stratosphere about 4.30pm and is was expected to land in the vicinity of the city based on current weather predictions. It is free for the finder to keep.

The watch was propelled into the skies by Jura Watches, part of C W Sellors Fine Jewellery based in Derbyshire, via a helium filled balloon.

Early estimates indicated the watch would be landing near Doncaster but in a change in the winds, due to a storm expected on Wednesday, placed the predicted landing near Cambridge.

But initial tracking showed the watch drift into the Peak District before contact was lost.

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Key Events

Something's gone wrong

For whatever reason, contact appears to have been lost with the Seiko watch.There’s been no update for hours and there’s not a chance in hell it’s going to suddenly land in Cambridge so we are going to close the blog.

Apologies, watch hunters. You’ll just have to stick to the Casio calculator watch you’ve had since school for the time being.Until next time...

20:09

So this is where they thought it was going to land..

The watch is predicted to land in the Cambridgeshire area

19:58

Where is it?!

It’s not quite clear on the tracker - it appears to be over the Peak District but the last update was some time ago. Doesn’t look like it’s going to come down this way, at 7.15pm it was at 24k altitude, so it’s probably on its descent...

18:04

It's getting quite high...

18:01KEY EVENT

What's this is all about?

The watch is being propelled into the skies by Jura Watches, part of C W Sellors Fine Jewellery based in Derbyshire, via a helium filled balloon.

A series of cameras will be attached to the payload filming the journey, capturing the curvature of the Earth, before the balloon bursts and the payload slowly falls back to Earth aided by a parachute.

Once the payload has landed, members of the public are being invited to hunt for the package, with the finder being able to claim the Seiko watch as a prize.

17:59

It's currently over Sheffield...

It’s a bit off course to be going to Cambridge but it’s only at 31.5k altitude, so there’s time yet...